MANILA, Philippines – Count on Arwind Santos to save the day for San Miguel.

Santos bailed out San Miguel for the nth time by hitting the biggest shots in a gutsy 90-88 victory over NorthPort that propelled them to the semifinals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday, July 24.

He scored half of his 10 points in the final two minutes as the No. 7 San Miguel overcame a twice-to-beat disadvantage against the No. 2 NorthPort. 

“It feels good to be at No. 7 because sometimes you can’t say it’s a lesson that when you’re down, if you really want it, if you dream for it, sometimes you’ll get it,” said Santos in Filipino. 

“For a team like us who have already proven ourselves, sometimes we’re up, but we should always be ready when we’re down.” 

It would not be a complete clutch Santos performance if he would not make his patented three-pointer from the right arc – a shot that has won multiple games and championships for San Miguel.

With NorthPort momentarily taking an 84-80 lead, Santos immediately put his team on the front seat with a triple and a layup before import Chris McCullough closed the game out for San Miguel.

“I remember plenty of ‘Hand of God’ moments when I made a shot from that same spot. I’m really thankful that spot won the game for us,” he said. 

San Miguel will face the winner between Rain or Shine and Blackwater, and Santos is confident his team has what it takes to reach the championship round.

“I don’t say that we can get past them easily but San Miguel’s confidence is increasing and we’re already getting our conditioning right. When that happens, we’ll have a good flow on the way to the finals.” – Rappler.com